Indu: Restaurateur Sam Prince adds a bit of spice to CBD with new South Indian/Sri Lankan venue
THE superlatives have flown thick and fast for Indu, a new addition to the CBD serving South Indian/Sri Lankan fare, since it opened in December.
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THE superlatives have flown thick and fast for this new Indian addition to the CBD since it opened in December.
“Groundbreaking’’ and “revelatory’’ have been used to describe the South Indian fare at Indu — the latest eatery from doctor-turned-restaurateur Sam Prince (Mejico).
The idea: Fresh, healthy home-cooked style that is common in households in India and Sri Lanka, and worlds apart from the heavy, creamy curries the Australian palate has been weaned on to.
Only it’s hardly a “new’’ concept — Sam Christie did the same thing with the (now closed) Surry Hills’ Subcontinental, while similar fare is offered at Aki’s at Woolloomooloo Wharf and Bang on Crown Street.
I guess what could be seen as something “new’’ is a polished, progressive Indian concept in the middle of the Sydney CBD, where Chinese and Mediterranean cuisine is generally the easiest to
come by.
Talking of hard to come by: You all but need a sherpa to get into Indu, which is hidden down a barely marked set of fire stairs in Angel Place.
We had to ask for directions from a waitress at a nearby restaurant and her exasperated but polite response indicated we weren’t the first to do so. (Gee, they must LOVE that.)
The pay-off is, however, pretty spectacular. Indu is a dark and seductively-lit grotto filled with inviting leather booths, hand-pressed mud-brick walls and oversized vases overflowing with spices and dried chillies.
Head chef Bimal Kumar’s menu is divided into sections that include a Dosa Bar Menu, “coast’’, “village’’ and “curries and grills’’, and the drinks list has a bunch of custom-made cocktails along with an impressive combo of French and Australian wines.
But we opt to leave it in the lap of the gods and spring for the $80-per-head set menu which varies from day to day and, with any luck, includes the bone marrow and Kashmiri lamb curry.
First up is pan-seared scallops served with a sprinkling of smoked coconut and tempered curd.
Normally I avoid seafood at Indian restaurants because I worry that its subtle flavour will be swallowed by the spicing. In this case the opposite occurs. The scallops are a little bland and undercooked and the smoked coconut is almost flavourless. Nothing revelatory here.
But redemption comes in the form of the smoked goat’s leg dosa — a sticky dollop of meat served on wafer-like pancake with zucchini raita, pomegranate and a smoky chilli and bacon jam. Head-swimmingly good.
The watermelon salad served with mint, cucumber, yoghurt and cardamom pomegranate molasses is as stunning as it looks; but the pan-flashed clams and mussels served in a Kerala coconut broth suffers from some small thumbnail-sized nuggets of flesh. The broth, however, packs a punch.
The star dish, though, is the marinated, slow-roasted lamb, cooked for 48 hours and ramped up with spices and yoghurt. It is served with a swirl of mint chutney and topped with a sambal of onions, sweet chilli and salt.
The meat is rich, juicy and intense and offset perfectly with its various sides, and we agree it probably compensates for the fact we didn’t get our bone marrow curry. Probably.
All that’s left is a simple icy pole of fresh watermelon juice and mint — a great finish at what feels like a place of some great shining lights.
But perhaps a bit more of a work in progress than the finished product.
Indu
Where: 350 George Street, (entry via Angel Place) Sydney CBD
Phone: 02 9223 0158
Style: Southern Indian/Sri Lankan
Open: Mon-Fri noon until late, Sat 5pm until late, Sun closed
Highlight: The goat dosa and watermelon icy pole
Lowlight: Tables are small and prices are steep
Rating: seven out of 10
Like this, then try these:
● Bang, Surry Hills
● Abhi’s, North Strathfield
● Malabar, Darlinghurst
All meals are paid for and visits unannounced.
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